page_title: French battleship Patrie
section_title: Construction – 1909
hierarchical_section_title: French battleship Patrie / Service history / Construction – 1909
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Cuirasse d'Escadre Republique, en rade de Toulon English: Subject: Ironclads, Armored vessels, Republique (Ironclad) Tag: Vessels
context_page_description: Patrie was the second and final member of the République class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the French Navy built between her keel laying in April 1902 and her commissioning in July 1907. Armed with a main battery of four 305 mm guns, she was outclassed before even entering service by the revolutionary British battleship HMS Dreadnought, that had been commissioned the previous December and was armed with a battery of ten guns of the same caliber. Though built to an obsolescent design, Patrie proved to be a workhorse of the French fleet, particularly during World War I.
  During the ship's peacetime career, Patrie served with the Mediterranean Squadron; this period was occupied with training exercises and cruises in the western Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic. She served as the squadron's flagship until replaced by newer vessels in 1911. Following the outbreak of war in July 1914, Patrie was used to escort troopship convoys carrying elements of the French Army from French North Africa to face the Germans invading northern France. She thereafter steamed to contain the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea, taking part in the minor Battle of Antivari in August.
context_section_description: Patrie was laid down at the La Seyne shipyard on 1 April 1902, launched on 17 December 1903, and completed on 1 July 1907, several months after the revolutionary British battleship HMS Dreadnought entered service, which rendered the pre-dreadnoughts like Patrie outdated. While Patrie was still fitting-out, the nearby battleship Iéna suffered a catastrophic magazine explosion that destroyed the vessel. Her commanding officer attempted to flood the dock holding Iéna to put out the inferno by firing one of Patrie's secondary guns at the dock gate, but the shell bounced off and did not penetrate it. The dock was finally flooded when Ensign de Vaisseau Roux (who was killed shortly afterward by fragments from the ship) managed to open the sluice gates. In May, the ship conducted sea trials, and on 29 May, a condenser pipe in one of her boilers burst. Several stokers were scalded, and the ship had to return to Toulon to have the condenser pipe replaced.
  After entering service, she was assigned to the 1st Division of the Mediterranean Squadron, along with her sister République and Suffren, the flagship of both the division and the squadron. The fleet thereafter embarked on its annual summer maneuvers, which lasted until 31 July. The Mediterranean Squadron joined the Northern Squadron for exercises in the western Mediterranean. On 5 November, Patrie replaced Suffren as the squadron flagship, hoisting the flag of Vice-amiral (VA—Vice Admiral) Germinet. On 13 January 1908, Patrie and the battleships République, Charlemagne, Gaulois, Saint Louis, Masséna, and Jauréguiberry steamed to Golfe-Juan and then to Villefranche-sur-Mer, where they remained for more than a month. During this period of training, on 17 March, Patrie, République, Justice, and Liberté conducted shooting training, using the old ironclad Tempête as a target. In June and July, the Mediterranean and Northern Squadrons conducted their annual maneuvers, this time off Bizerte. In October, the 1st Division ships, which by then consisted of Patrie and République steamed to Barcelona, Spain. The ships were inspected by King Alfonso XIII, who boarded Patrie during the visit.
  By 5 January 1909, Germinet had been replaced by VA Fauque de Jonquières, following the publication of a letter in which Germinet criticized the fleet's ammunition supply. While in Villefranche, Patrie hosted Albert I, Prince of Monaco during his visit to the port from 18 to 24 February. After his departure, the Mediterranean Squadron conducted training exercises off Corsica, followed by a naval review in Villefranche for President Armand Fallières on 26 April. Patrie, Démocratie, Liberté, and the armored cruiser Ernest Renan steamed into the Atlantic for training exercises on 2 June; while at sea ten days later, they rendezvoused with République, Justice, and the protected cruiser Galilée at Cádiz, Spain. Training included serving as targets for the fleet's submarines in the Pertuis d'Antioche strait. The ships then steamed north to La Pallice, where they conducted tests with their wireless telegraphy sets and shooting training in Quiberon Bay. From 8 to 15 July, the ships lay at Brest and the next day, they steamed to Le Havre. There, they met the Northern Squadron for another fleet review for Fallières on 17 July. Ten days later, the combined fleet steamed to Cherbourg, where they held another fleet review, this time during the visit of Czar Nicholas II of Russia. Patrie, République, and Démocratie departed for Toulon on 17 August and arrived on 6 September.
caption: Patrie steaming off Toulon
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